New York: A top Pakistani envoy has told the UN Security Council (UNSC) that, despite pledges, the Taliban government in Afghanistan has not acted “decisively” to halt the cross-border terrorist attacks by the banned TTP that have resulted in hundreds of civilian and military casualties.
Ambassador Munir Akram, the permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said in a debate on the situation in Afghanistan, “The impunity which some of these terrorist groups seem to enjoy within Afghanistan poses a dire and direct threat to all of Afghanistan’s neighbours as well as to the world.”
Ambassador Akram, therefore, asked the UNSC to call on the Taliban government to sever its links with the banned TTP and its associates; stop them from carrying out cross-border attacks against Pakistan; disarm the banned TTP terrorists and capture the TTP’s leadership and hand them over to Pakistan.
“Unfortunately, despite pledges, no meaningful action has been taken so far. TTP safe havens remain close to Pakistan’s borders. Cross-border attacks have also continued, including one by a TTP associate that killed several Chinese engineers working on the Dasu hydro power project,” the diplomat told the 15-member Council. “The top priority – for the world, for Afghanistan’s neighbours and for Afghanistan itself – remains the complete elimination of terrorism within and from Afghanistan,” he added.
Islamabad, he said, has repeatedly conveyed to the Taliban — at very senior levels — to act decisively to end TTP’s attacks, disarm its fighters, capture and hand over the terrorist group’s fighters to Pakistan.
At the outset, he added Pakistan has consistently advocated for sustained engagement with the Afghan interim authorities to normalize the situation in that country.
While welcoming the Taliban’s announced decision to participate in the upcoming UN-backed meeting in Doha, Qatar Ambassador Akram has also underlined the need for both the world and the Afghan interim Government to “be clear about the overall objectives they seek”. “Unless we know where we are going, we will never get there,” he remarked.
For its part, the Pakistani envoy said the world is obliged to help the 23 million Afghans who need urgent aid and to take adequate steps to bolster Afghanistan’s economy.
Afghan Taliban must also take measures to abide by its international obligations, he added, noting that “the world remains concerned” about restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan. “These do not conform with global law or the tenets of Islam”, he maintained, adding, “The Afghan Interim Government is likely to ensure the rights of women and girls to education, work and other human rights.”
“Pakistan has a national compulsion to promote peace, and development in Afghanistan. And we will continue to work at all levels – bilateral, regional and global and with the UN– to achieve these objectives.”
